Talent Search: Five easy ways to make your organization recruitment ready
Want to increase your organization’s project success? Hire the right people. It is not as easy as it sounds.
Here are five strategic actions your organization can take to better position itself in the fight for top talent, now and in the long run:
1. Define your organization’s culture.
“By having a clear description of an organization’s culture, which arises after key questions are addressed internally, the organization is more equipped to be able to identify and pursue talent that matches these organizational variables,” says Steven Flannes, PhD., principal, Flannes & Associates, Oakland, California, USA.
Potential questions to help organizations develop their culture identities might include:
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Is the organization formal or informal?
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Is the organization in a period of growth or consolidation?
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Is the organization process-based or technical-based
“An organization that can identify its culture can then use that description to craft interview strategies and interview questions that attempt to identify candidates whose personal style and experience match the organization's culture,” he says.
For example, if an organization believes that its culture is fast-paced, entrepreneurial and requires cross-cultural competencies, then it can target project managers who have experience working in such an environment.
2. Know what you are really looking for.
Use the different roles that project managers, planners and schedulers play, as well as the matrix of project management qualifications and expertise, to recruit the appropriate talent for a specific task, says John Cornish, chartered marketer, Micro Planning International Ltd., Wimborne, Dorset, England.
“If you can find a person that can project manage and plan and schedule within a specific industry, then you’ve hit ‘gold.’ But you might be paying highly for a project manager who spends his [or her] time simply doing data entry that could be procured at a much lower rate,” Mr. Cornish says.
3. Help human resources understand project management.
“It is not rare to see [human resource] managers attending project management training courses. It helps them to better understand the real responsibilities and the specific skills required to do the job,” says Yannick Le Pogam, PMP, PgMP, consultant and trainer, Moana Sàrl, Switzerland. “They feel their own competencies, as recruiters, are increased, and they use them to find the best project talent.”
4. Maintain an industry-specific network.
With this approach—either through traditional or online means—employers can turn to those already within the industry for word-of-mouth insight and potential referrals.
“Generally, any project manager that comes with recommendations is one that I would choose for a client,” says Jill C. Tarbox, PMP, national recruitment manager, Reflectx Services, Tampa, Florida, USA. “Also, as a lead project manager, I would rely on those recommendations, depending on the scope of the project.”
5. Recruit project talent before you need it.
“Program managers and other organizational power centers need to have informal succession plans and talent pools in place that identify outside talent. These relationships should be nurtured and maintained until they are needed,” Mr. Flannes says.
The fight for talent is tough, but with some planning and action, your organization can come out on top.